PornHub turns to crypto after Visa, Mastercard bow out

PornHub’s premium membership is supported via multiple cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin [BTC], Bitcoin Cash [BCH], Dash, Ethereum [ETH], Ethereum Classic [ETC], Litecoin [LTC], NEM [XEM], Tether [USDT], Tron [TRX], Verge [XVG], Waves [WAVES], and Zcash [ZEC]. It has now added Monero [XMR] to this list of cryptos, further expanding its crypto-adoption.

Source: Reddit

Although cryptocurrencies were a part of PornHub’s payment system, the latest exit of MasterCard and Visa has left a huge dent. According to a recent report by the New York Times, the website allegedly permitted videos involving minors and content that included assault. Due to this, Mastercard and Visa have blocked payments to this website to suspend it from monetizing from such videos. PayPal was also among those who suspended payment routes to the website.

However, PayPal had declared back in November 2019 that it was to indefinitely block all transactions related to PornHub. At the time, in correspondence with PornHub, the executive had informed that the website had moved to the cryptocurrency Verge for payouts. The platform was also considering the addition of more cryptos, but this dark side of the website was brought to light by the recent report. Now that the cat’s out of the bag, many traditional financial institutions have distanced themselves from PornHub and crypto has become its main source of revenue.

The shade of negativity also falls on crypto as centralized institutions have been able to distance themselves from the platform but, not crypto which is a decentralized operation. Cryptocurrencies have not been sitting well with the world’s lawmakers and it has been looked at as a tool used to promoted illegal activities like drugs and other illicit activity. However, with PornHub now pivoting to cryptos, only time will tell how many regulators will perceive this move.